etrayamemes | TDM 006

TDM 006

⏵ arrival ⏴
Arrival is absolutely not normal this month. Instead of a hospital bed, you wake in a tunnel with a large group of other people. These are the residents. A woman’s voice in an earpiece hurriedly clues you in with an apology.

I apologize; I had not planned to introduce you this way, but we are low on time. Please proceed down the hallway.

An image of a shattered pearl pops up on your personal HUD and rotates.

I am Aurora. You are joining many others on Etraya in order to save your world from destruction by completing missions. Your current mission is to find the pieces of this object that have become scattered in the library ahead of you.

For everyone else, coming in is much the same. The instruction goes out to head to designated areas immediately, where companion bots will escort the residents of Etraya down into the depths, the area beneath where much the same is explained.

⏵ disrobing ⏴

The tunnel eventually opens directly into the foreroom of an expansive library, painted in marvelous hues and patterns with skylights far above. There are wizards milling about, bearded and holding tomes, quietly chatting amongst themselves.

The reception area of the library has tall ceilings with equally tall doors Before you get too caught up in the scenery, a voice directs you forward. A gentleman, hunched and bespeckled craws out.

"Make a line! Make a line, everyone! You cannot enter the library dressed as you are... Come forward and give me your name."

The receptionist asks your given name and then hands over a box from underneath his counter. You can give him any name you want, he doesn’t seem to mind. It is tied with a tagged ribbon- labeling it accordingly. “The _____ robe of _______.”

	(First Letter of Given Name)				(Last Letter of Given Name)
A	Controlling	N	Helpful	A	Melodies	N	Light
B	Glimmering	O	Floating	B	Discretion	O	Mind-Reading
C	Wet	P	Handsome	C	Growth	P	Climbing
D	Gruesome	Q	Gullible	D	Grasping	Q	Jumping
E	Observant	R	Ratty	E	Flying	R	Hurting
F	Powerful	S	Adhesive	F	Reading	S	Guiding
G	Psychedelic	T	Sweltering	G	Dancing	T	Bug-Speaking
H	Swift	U	Cheerful	H	Shouting	U	Exploding
I	Voracious	V	Anxious	I	Extracting	V	Complaining
J	Soft	W	Likeable	J	Punishing	W	Dividing
K	Keen	X	Ruthless	K	Creeping	X	Slapping
L	Fabulous	Y	Dramatic	L	Walking	Y	Charming
M	Fair	Z	Demonic	M	Listening	Z	Combustion

As you read what the contents of the box may be, they form inside- Looking and behaving as your character expects them to. After all, magic is all in the wielder’s mind.

Don your robes and enter the library.

⏵ unfamiliar familiars ⏴

For those without a familiar (like one hatched from an egg not too long ago) you may borrow one from the library counter. They all have strengths and weaknesses, but they will all assist in the very important mission. As you roam the library, they will make little indications that you are closer or further from finding a piece of the pearl.


Pro	• Hardworking • Gives correct directions 75% of time • Won’t run away from you	• Very affectionate • Gives correct directions only when paired with another rat, toad, or personal pet.	• Gives correct directions 90% of the time
Con	• Must feed bookworms	• Will run away if too close to a cat	• Does not care for you • Sleepy • Will run ahead • Gets distracted by rats

⏵ the task at hand ⏴

With robes donned and creature in hand, you must now complete your mission. Find the pieces of the shattered pearl. As you enter the library, you may notice that it’s all very dim. There’s oil lamps around the place that may be moved with you to assist in your journey if your robes do not already emit light.

Break off and search the library. There is a directory at the front to point guests to all the different sections.

	Wings of the Library
A	General Works	B	Music
C	Philosophy, Religion	D	Fine Arts
E	History, Auxiliary Sciences	F	Language and Literature
G	Magic, General	H	Science
J	Geography, Anthopology	K	Medicine
M	Agriculture	N	Hobbies, Recreation
P	Social Science	Q	Military
R	Political Science	S	Practical Arts
T	Law	W	People
X	Education	Y	Spiders

Each section looks enough like the last, though the books within have immense power. Pick up the wrong book, and you might conjure a dragon or a historical figure! You must persist and avoid making too much noise or breaking too many things.

Or else the Librarian, a tall mass of knotted fabric will confiscate your robe and usher you back outside. Your name will be struck from the list, and you must pick a new one to re-enter the library to continue the search.

You can try to fight back against him- he may be set alight with the lamp. But should you be starting fires in here?

⏵ NOTES ⏴

Any thread with 15 comments between you and another may be submitted to find a piece of the pearl. There are 20 pieces altogether, and we will determine if the mission was successful by March 28th. A post will go live on the OOC comm for this!

This mission occurs out of time, similar to how the spaceship had. Meaning, those currently in game can experience these events any time between now, and March 14th.

Please direct all questions to our mod queries comment!

⏵FULL NAVIGATION⏴

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Oh, that is a very unhappy familiar now. Tim winces as the cat starts up some unhappy yowling and, with a couple odd gestures of his hands, produces a big fluffy towel. "Thanks for the help. If you'd just give it back over to me...?"

With a bit of cooperation, he'll burrito his poor familiar to keep it from running away again, and also dry off some of the dampness from the man's robe. "Yeah. Not for long, though. I like birds more."

Seeing as how his familiar is a bird and one of his fathers spent a lot of time as a hawk. You could say it runs in the family.

>> SETTING OUT

[ John's robe is "the soft robe of light" and it is as advertised: soft and glowing. With great disdain he has been forced to don the glowing white robe, letting the thin soft fabric drape awkwardly over his suit, though he was at least allowed to leave off the belt and let it hang open; it looks like a fancy glowing bathrobe.

Now a librarian is insisting he take a familiar, since he doesn't have one of his own. Bear is one thing, this is entirely something else. Toads don't really match with his suit, the rat seems too friendly, and the cat seems too aloof. Finally he settles on the rat, if only because he's worried the cat might try to eat Harold's bird. He is, at least, given a black rat that immediately scurries up his arm and perches on his shoulder. Definitely too friendly. What kind of 6'2" ex-CIA assassin stands around in a white robe with a pet rat? This one, apparently. He looks as awkward as he feels. ]

>> GOING IN CIRCLES

[ With his "soft robe of light" John doesn't need to take a lamp with him. Instead he just wanders in various sections, listening to the little squeaks the rat makes in his ear. He's come up with a system to interpret the different tones and will get to a crossroads and stop, turn in each direction while listening to the squeaks, and then go in the direction he thinks is correct. So far this has lead him a whole lot of nowhere.

After a bit of wandering it becomes clear that rat is giving consistent but completely nonsensical directions, so John stops listening to it entirely and wanders the shelves, peering behind books at random while the rat chatters away in his ear, clearly upset that he's not paying attention to it anymore. ]

>> PASSING THE TIME

[ Eventually John ends up in Hobbies, Recreation. By now his rat has worn itself out from trying to guide him when he's not listening and is apparently sleeping in his pocket, out of sight apart from the lump in his robe's pocket that's weighed down on one side. Hopefully no one catches him here because he's actually carefully reading the spines of the books. The thing is, he doesn't have any hobbies and it's very obvious now that he's somewhere with lots of time on his hands. He does need a hobby. So he's getting ideas, though the books about weaving baskets with reeds and yo-yo tricks aren't very appealing. Maybe if he keeps looking he'll find something. And if anyone does happen upon him, he can just pretend he was on the mission. ]

[[ ooc: if you want something that's not listed here just PM me! ]]

Edited 2025-01-03 04:19 (UTC)

🍷 disrobing.

Ardyn is given The Controlling Robe of Extracting. While he hasn't the faintest clue what that could mean, it's a gaudy and garish thing. Sparkling sequins, blood red, and with pink fur lining the collar.

It's perfect. The man dons it without hesitation- What's the worst it could do, kill him? Pft. He does feel the ambient magical pull of whatever it's supposed to do but he'll figure that out later.

If anyone gives him a strange look about his appearance, he'll simply ask: "What? Jealous?" without a hint of irony. (Okay, there's some irony.)

🍷 fine arts.

Ardyn peruses the books available while cat snoozes. He actually seems to get absorbed in a novel or two and seemingly forget what exactly they're supposed to be doing. Something about a pearl, he thinks? Either way- "Hm?" he'll question at anyone that might be trying to get his attention for whatever reason.

"You know, poetry doesn't seem that difficult. Maybe I should try penning some." Whether just asking him if he's seen anything or warning him of a fire nearby, he'll have the same laissez-faire attitude.

People here really are so easily fussed, it seems. You'd think their home worlds were at stake or something!

🍷 familiar frustrations.

His familiar isn't entirely unhelpful, of course, but it does seem to bore easily. Unless there's someone with a rat nearby leading their way. Then, he can be found trying to discourage it from eating the poor creature. "Stop it," he chides, picking up the feline beneath its front arms as it growls or mewls in displeasure. "Act a bit more civilized." Like he's one to talk.

If not attempting to devour someone else's companion, it's knocking things over as it desires. Perhaps it's a candle, but he'll try to snuff it out before it catches anything. Or, worse, it's a book of music... that once flopped open on the floor begins to play the scores at an extremely loud volume. Ardyn will 'shoosh' the book and slam it shut, but-

It's too late. He can hear the scratch of fabric through the bookshelves looking for the source of the noise. And what else can he do at that point but try to run and hide? Catch him in his attempt to or, better, collide with him on his path to conceal himself and end up tangled up (ha, see what he did there? you know, because the Librarian is made of- Nevermind) in the mess of his making.

🍷 wildcard / plot with me

(( hey hi, it's chai! ardyn's info/permissions are here! you can hit me up @ tentamenace on plurk/discord or PM this journal if you want to hash things out, have another idea, etc. ))

cw: profanity, smoking, torture mentions, starvation, general themes associated with saw

— arrival

What the fuck is this shit-

( disoriented, angry, and looking rather emaciated, adam seemed to be one of the few arrivals genuinely not taking this well. he had spent nearly a month in a dark room, chain on his leg and covered in soil after an intense day of being psychologically tortured. although all the signs were there that this was certainly not a part of his plan— jigsaw, adam couldn't help but see scenes before him that indicated he might have been suffering from some form of shock.

as the rest of the crowd began to walk towards the end of the tunnel as instructed, adam couldn't help but run. his soul and spirit were willing, trying to fight off whatever he had imagined in his head but soon he found himself stumbling and falling down the path of the tunnel. whoever was near him, close enough to grab, he immediately reached for their ankle and looked up. his eyes were full of terror and he could do was plead. )

For the love of God, what the hell is this place? Where is he-

Jigsaw?

— robes and critters

( by now adam had calmed down considerably realizing he wasn't the only one lost and confused. when he had a chance to think about it, he realized he was in a similar position as he had been nearly a month ago- kidnapped and taken to a place that claimed he was the key to saving his world. his world that had a twisted serial killer on the loose who imposed a strange set of morals on others. that was the world he had been tasked with saving.

so while others might have seemed fascinated by the robes, the critters, and the strange boxes, adam was over it. he needed a cigarette so badly, he found himself constantly licking his lips and walking around in circles like an animal trapped in a zoo. it wasn't until he got his familiar, a cat, that he seemed to settle down just a bit. he took the cat with him to a corner while he slumped down against one of the bookshelves and set aside his box. if anyone came nearby, he would immediately voice his complaints about.....well everything. )

What kind of sick twisted torture is this? They should just kill us all here and get it over with.

And what the hell does "The controlling robe of guiding" even mean? That's the worst part, none of this makes any fucking sense.

— task at hand

( although adam had begun his journey in etraya coming off as very disoriented, angry, and overall out of it, if there was one thing he was good at was surviving. he was still pretty weak and fragile all things considered, but someone had finally gotten him a bit of food and it was enough to keep him going. so although the threat of death and torture wasn't on the table, adam was inclined to treat it as such. so he took on this task quite seriously, holding onto his familiar despite the fact the cat was clearly trying to run out of his arms and chase any rat it saw.

as far as searching went, he decided to go with something that wouldn't be too dangerous or ominous, splitting off into the art section. there he reached for the first book he saw, twisted visions by a horror artist. unfortunately for him, this was possibly the worst decision he could make because the moment he opened the book, spirals of hair began to swirl out and started to wrap themselves around him. )

Help! Help-

( he began to yell out immediately, dropping his familiar and the book. the librarian didn't have to kick him out to get him to stop-

he was already running for the hills and out towards the door. the only thing that stopped him was his carelessness in forgetting just how fragile he was, causing him to fall and trip on whoever was unfortunate enough to be near him. )

— wildcard

( feel free to respond with your own starter, whether within the tdm event or in etraya's general setting. if you'd prefer, I'd be happy to make a closed starter. feel free to contact me at pinkwestwood (@) discord. opt-out post and permissions found here. )

[ Rosie's robe, The Swift Robe of Light, is something reminiscent of a bridal train. Flowing, lacy, and white- She thinks it's kind of ironic considering she's the farthest thing from 'pure' and the associations of such an aesthetic, but twirls around in it with a laugh all the same. ]

Who knows! [ she chirps, cheerfully. It's not reassuring at all, she's aware, but she can't say if she does believe they'll work. Nothing in Etraya usually goes how it's supposed to, so the blond isn't going to assume anything. ]

Hopefully, yours doesn't croak. [ Hee. Sorry, she had to. Her own familiar is actually a small octopus that rests suctioned to her shoulder. ] My little guy also can't do much but grab, but... He can do that really, really well. [ To demonstrate, she reaches up a finger that the octopus wraps its little tentacles around tightly. ]

He releases the poor creature back into custody of its original owner, looking down at his clawed and fur covered robe front. Well, the whole thing was already wet, so. Couldn’t get much worse.

Cid folds his arms. He sounds genuinely interested, the corners of his eyes crinkle. His voice is deep, and he sucks on his cigar before speaking. “I haven’t seen your mug around before. So you a shapeshifter, lad?”

Wha-?

[ It's all Rosie manages to get out before Felicia is the one flying at her. As far as cover goes, Rosie probably isn't the greatest option. She stands at a not all imposing 5'1" and is about one hundred and twenty pounds soaking wet. ] Uhm. So, that's. I don't think that's how this works?

[ It's more of a question than anything as the Librarian continues to approach at an alarming speed. ] I think we just need to keep running!

[ Which is what she decides to do. Just as the shifting of fabric threatens to consume, Rosie is grabbing Felicia's wrist and tugging them into the next bookshelf over for safety. ] Go, go, go-

Wearing a robe over his armor and cape is kind of annoying. Actually, everything is annoying since Vax put on his Anxious robe of Complaining. This world is undoubtably making fun of him with this pair-up.

The robe itself is not much to look at, either. It's a swirling mash-up of a whole collection of colors (teal, brown, yellow, gray), like a child dumped several paints and smeared them together with their fingers. Blech.

So yes, he's caught looking at Ardyn's robe and sighs. "Why does mine have to look like shit?"

arrival

[Ace was sure he was going to die, but instead, he's in a tunnel, with people he doesn't know, and not standing on a block of ice. So of course, he tries to keep his cool, by first touching his chest, feeling all the skin there, then looks around.

The voice in his head is weird to say the least. The image of the pearl, well, that freaks him out a bit.]

... Are we supposed to walk down the tunnel?

[He's really not dead, right?]

unfamiliar familiars

[With “The controlling robe of flying" (which... he still can't really fly, no matter how hard he tries to levitate) and a fluffy cat currently running away from him, Ace is more than lost. He's sure he's supposed to be get the cat to help, but how can he get help when it keeps running away?]

Wait, no, come back! crap, I think I need you! how do I call a cat?.... kitty? Where did you go?

[He really has no idea what to do! He looks to both of his sides, until he finds someone there with him.]

Can you help? I'm looking for my cat but I think she got lost.

the task at hand

[With cat finally caught, Ace ventures into the magic section, because-]

Wait, magic is real?

[He's ridiculously excited to see magic books, with his cat swatting at his arm, he looks around. Ace doesn't recognize any books in this section, but then again, magic doesn't exist in his world!

The cat meows, and when Ace turns left, the cat hisses.]

What's wrong?

[He turns to the right instead, trying to get a closer look at the cat in the light, and the cat just meows again.

So he goes left again, only for the cat to hiss once more and swat at his face.]

Woah, ok, we're not going that way.

[He turns back to the right and the cat yawns, and tries to wiggle out of his arms.]

Nuh uh, you're not getting away again.

wildcard

((anything else? send a pm or a pp at

trevenant))

[ Yuri's robe, if one wants to call it that, looks much more like a well-worn, faded grey cloak. It's draped over his shoulders just the same, above...what looks like a much more extravagant garment, because someone got in line twice just to see what he could get. All in all, an odd combination.

Odder still might be the way he's following a bushy-tailed little rat around, at least until it freezes. Yuri halts at the far end of the row of bookcases, glancing toward Ace and his grudging cat as the rat scurries back into his cloak and seems to somehow fuse back into the faded cloth.

Yuri himself has no idea how rats come and go from the thing, really. ]

...Keep that little guy over there, yeah?

[ He lifts his hands defenwively, but not for the reason Ace is liable to assume. ]

[Ace's robe is a normal, boring, black robe. This man's though? Amazing.]

Your robe is so cool!

Eh?

[Ace saw the rat, and so did the kitty. Who tries really hard to get away from Ace. She scratches his arm in the process and Ace just sighs.

Where did the rat go though?]

Oh, sorry! she's... Fuzzy. Are you scared of cats by chance?

Yuri was less trying to get the man's attention and more trying to signal one of the rats that seemed to just appear from his Ratty Robe of Guiding, because how does one communicate with rats anyway, but he freezes when spoken to. His robe, if one wishes to call is such, is draped over his shoulders like the well-weathered cloak of a drifter. Beneath it is another, much gaudier specimen, draped just the same. One can only guess why he'd place the shabbier article over it.

As for the question, well. He can spare a moment or two.

"Suppose it depends on whether you've got a way with words, doesn't it? I've heard a fair few terrible poems in my day." Yuri's reply is casual as his rat vanishes from his line of sight, having caught wind of a cat. He draws no closer himself, but for reasons unrelated to his new little friend. Or friends. He's not clear on how many rats can appear from this free garment.

[ Where does any rat go, really? Don't worry about it. ]

Not scared, no, just... [ He squints, willing a sneeze to go away. ] Better off at a distance.

[ Goddess forbid he admit he has allergies the rats somehow fail to set off. Just magic things. ]

[Ace can't really see the guy too well, considering it's dark in here, but the cat is wiggling so much, so much, she just frees herself and runs towards the man.]

Ah...

[Sorry dude who's totally not scared of cats!]

Crap, I won't be able to catch her again!

[And so he gets closer to the man, trying to go after his cat, when a glowing light distracts him. It's coming from a book on the shelf to his right, and Ace finds it extremely interesting.]

You see this, right?

[ In which Yuri's robe is critters, or somehow contains them. Don't ask him — this makes no more sense to him as a man who knows magic from his own world. He was just passing by, following a woodrat down the hall, when Adam's words make him halt.

The cat, on the other hand, makes the woodrat retreat into the well-weathered robe he's got draped over his shoulders like a cloak. ]

Seems like some kind of twisted joke, doesn't it?

[ He is but a medieval man, he can commiserate. ]

Pretty sure the robes mean whatever we think they mean. I joked about how a ratty robe could guide me and here we are.

[ He's sure Adam saw that rodent before it somehow merged with the garment from whence it had come. ]

[ The cat darts right past Yuri and out of sight. He watches it go until he can't any longer, then turns to see the odd light the man had pointed out.

It's in that moment that his rodent appears on the shelf beside him, hops onto his shoulder, and seems to somehow merge into the robe. Just like that, the rat is gone.

Strange, the rat was the same color as the fabric... ]

Yeah, I see it. Couldn't tell you what it is, but I see it.

[Ace turns excited to the man, a smile as big as it goes on his face.]

Do you think it's magic?

[He totally ignored the rat.]

[Dude, you’re grabbing hold of a mammoth's ankle. Manny stops in his tracks and looks down at Adam with a befuddled look. His smaller companion looked at the human with a wary expression, ready to act if he tries anything.]

You're in Etraya, a world that exists outside of every other world in the multiverse. And what do you exactly mean by "Jigsaw"?

[ Need a light, Paine?

Because there is a light, only a moment after she says it. In fact, Paine will find herself becoming a light as she flies up there in the air, as she stares lighting up with a violent light. Sorry, Paine, you kind of look like you belong at a rave now. At least the light doesn't seem to do anything. She won't feel any different, it's just that she's lighting up out of nowhere.

If she looks down, she might find the source of it, though Fabian is very much standing with both of his feet on the ground himself. His hand is up, like he just cast the spell that made her light up, though he lowers it a moment later as he sighs.

It's a loud, dramatic sigh. Loud enough that she should be able to hear it even from up there, followed by an equally loud and dramatic: ] Okay, how come some of us get to fly, and they expect everyone else to just walk around?

[ It's because the people in charge of this place suck, and he knows it!! ]

Is that--

[ There's a voice suddenly speaking up. At least it's not a total jumpscare, since it seems like John isn't the only person here that's lighting up. Though with Fabian it doesn't even seem to be his robe that's doing the job, since the young man is glowing entirely. The robe, his body, his face, his hair. It's like he's a walking disco stick, especially when he's illuminated by a strange purple light.

It's a strange appearance, yes, but at least it definitely makes him visible enough for John to very much be able to tell where the voice is coming from.

.. well, that, and the fact that Fabian looks rather panicked in his direction for some reason. ]

Is that a rat?! [ His tone definitely matches his expression.. ]

[ This was exactly the scenario Fabian had been trying to avoid, honestly. There's a reason why he immediately whipped out his Faerie Fire spell to make himself glow purple - it made him not have to constantly lift his lamp, and on top of that, surely no one would tumble into him in the dark like this.

Clearly he was wrong about that. Because before the young man even realizes what's up, there's a sudden pressure against him, and a moment later he finds himself tumbling right to the ground along with someone else. ]

Ugh, what--

[ Hold on, he's trying to push Adam off him, but it's a struggle in the middle of this chaos. ]

What are you doing?!

[ ... Well.

That sure makes two of them, since Fabian also has a cat for a familiar. And he also sure lost it. Not that he wants to admit to the fact, because Fabian has stupid pride he cares about. So he takes in a breath, and tries to act as naturally as possible when he says: ]

Oh?

[ You know, like it's new. A cat running away, a novel idea! Certainly never would happen to him. Don't ask him where his familiar is. ]

I mean, we are meant to look around all the same, right? Might as well keep an eye out for your cat while we are at it! [ Fabian is already starting to walk. ] Really, you are quite lucky you ran into me, just so you have got the best person possible to help you!

[ .. okay, maybe a little pompous there, Fabian. But aside from his peacocking, he does seem eager to help..? That's got to count for something, right. ]

[Are people fussed about this? Dazai's not. He's been pretty much half-assing even looking for this pearl (he'd call it supervising tyvm, it's a very important job ok) in the first place, so when some guy stops to go off on a tangent, he's more than happy to follow him down the rabbit hole, as it were.]

You should! Maybe a limerick to get started, or a haiku? Don't forget to count your syllables!

[ Gorgug's not new, but he's in the tunnel the same as anyone else to hear the guy speak out loud. The 6'6" half-orc looks backwards, considering the question. ]

...I don't know what happens if we try and go back.

[ Does that help? ]

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 2 of 129

TDM 006

no subject

John Reese | Person of Interest

Ardyn Izunia | FFXV

adam stanheight — saw franchise

clothing.

no subject

library, attempt 1.

disrobing

Portgas D. Ace | One Piece

ruins ur tasks

disrobing

no subject

fine arts

no subject

no subject

robes and critters

no subject

no subject

Arrival

your time starts now

going in circles

task at hand

unfamiliar familiars

fine arts

arrival